A Day-by-Day Look at 2001

A month-by-month look at notable news in 2001:

January

Jan. 1
Ten killed, 100 injured in New Year's Eve fire in Dutch cafe.

Jan. 2
Actor Ray Walston, of  My Favorite Martian and Damn Yankees, dies at 86.

Jan. 3
Eleven dead in house fire in Delaware. Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards sentenced to 10 years in prison in corruption case.

Jan. 5
President Clinton curtails road building and logging on federal forest land.

Jan. 9
Linda Chavez withdraws bid to be labor secretary because of controversy over illegal immigrant who lived with her.

Jan. 10
Former respiratory therapist in California charged in deaths of six elderly hospital patients.

Jan. 11
Army acknowledges that U.S. soldiers killed "unknown number" of South Korean refugees early in Korean War at No Gun Ri. FCC approves merger of America Online and Time Warner.

Jan. 12
William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., dies at 87. Former President Reagan breaks hip.

Jan. 13
Severe earthquake hits El Salvador; more than 840 killed.

Jan. 16
Laurent Kabila, president of Democratic Republic of Congo, is killed in shooting at his home. Tanker runs aground, spilling fuel into waters off Galapagos islands.

Jan. 17
California electricity regulators order rolling blackouts.

Jan. 18
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson reveals extramarital affair that resulted in birth of a daughter. Commander of Marines' Osprey squadron relieved of command for directing subordinates to lie.

Jan. 19
Philippine President Joseph Estrada resigns; Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo becomes president.

Jan. 20
George Walker Bush becomes America's 43rd president.

Jan. 22
Former pro football player Rae Carruth sentenced to nearly 19 years in prison for role in killing of his pregnant girlfriend.

Jan. 24
Six Texas prison escapees captured, 42 days after breakout; a seventh commits suicide. Lucent Technologies says it will eliminate up to 16,000 jobs.

Jan. 25
A 13-year-old Florida boy convicted of first-degree murder for fatally punching and stomping 6-year-old family friend.

Jan. 26
Devastating earthquake hits Indian subcontinent, killing more than 20,000. Joseph Kabila is sworn in as Congo's president, replacing his assassinated father.

Jan. 28
Two professors murdered at Dartmouth College. Two teen-agers later charged with the killings.

Jan. 30
British officials say doctors removed hearts, brains, eyes and heads from thousands of dead children without parents' consent. Diane Whipple killed outside San Francisco apartment by two dogs trained to guard illegal drug labs.

Jan. 31
Scottish court convicts one Libyan, acquits a second, in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. New Georgia flag hoisted above statehouse, featuring smaller Confederate battle emblem.

February

Feb. 1
Senate confirms former Sen. John Ashcroft as attorney general, completing new Cabinet.

Feb. 5
Disgruntled former factory worker kills five people, including himself, at engine plant near Chicago.

Feb. 6
Ariel Sharon elected Israeli prime minister in landslide win over Ehud Barak.

Feb. 7
Jean-Bertrand Aristide sworn in as Haiti's president. Man fires shots near White House, is charged with assault. Senate votes to pay $582 million in back dues to United Nations. Dale Evans, singer-actress who teamed with husband Roy Rogers, dies at 88. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh, dies at 94.

Feb. 8
Congress begins hearings on Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Feb. 9
Navy submarine collides with Japanese fishing boat carrying high school students; nine aboard boat die.

Feb. 12
Federal appeals court says Napster must prevent users from swapping copyrighted music without charge, effectively shutting down company. Computer virus masked as photo of tennis star Anna Kournikova overwhelms e-mail servers in Europe and North America.

Feb. 13
Earthquake shakes El Salvador, killing more than 400.

Feb. 16
Timothy McVeigh sentenced to death for bombing that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City.

Feb. 17
Black militant Khalid Abdul Muhammad dies.

Feb. 18
Auto racing star Dale Earnhardt dies from injuries suffered in crash at Daytona 500. Veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen arrested, accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years.

Feb. 20
Filmmaker Stanley Kramer dies at age 87.

Feb. 23
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld orders indefinite moratorium on civilian visitors operating military equipment, a factor in submarine collision with Japanese fishing boat.

March

March 1
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton unveils first legislation, package of bills to revitalize upstate New York economy.

March 4 President Bush dedicates $4 billion aircraft carrier in honor of Ronald Reagan.

March 5
Freshman at Santana High School near San Diego arrested for firing on classmates, killing two, injuring 13. Vice President Dick Cheney hospitalized after feeling chest pains.

March 6
Ten-year-old boy found mauled to death by dogs in St. Louis park.

March 12
U.S. Navy plane mistakenly bombs soldiers during training exercise in Kuwait, killing five Americans, one New Zealander.

March 14
Man recently fired from PPG Industries in North Carolina attacks employees in parking lot, killing one.

March 15
Employee opens fire at furniture plant in Pennsylvania after workplace dispute, killing floor manager, then killing himself.

March 16
Hip Hop mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs and bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones acquitted on weapons possession charges.

March 18
Amtrak train bound from Chicago to California derails, killing one passenger, injuring 96.

March 19
California officials declare power alert, order rolling blackouts.

March 20
World's biggest floating oil rig, owned by Brazil's Petrobras, sinks in South Atlantic. New York native Lori Berenson, accused of aiding guerrillas, gets retrial in Peru.

March 21
Supreme Court rules hospitals cannot test pregnant women for drug use without their consent. U.S. orders 51 Russian diplomats to leave, in retaliation for Russia's use of FBI spy.

March 22
Kofi Annan says he will seek second term as U.N. secretary-general.

March 23
After 15 years in operation, Russian space craft Mir plunges into South Pacific.

March 26
Comair pilot strike begins. Fire in Kenyan secondary school dormitory kills 58.

March 27
Federal judge rules University of Michigan law school's affirmative action policy is unconstitutional. California commission approves electricity rate hikes of up to 46 percent.

March 29
James Kopp, fugitive in killing of abortion doctor, is captured. Chartered jet crashes near Aspen, Colo., killing 18 people on board.

March 31
Police arrest Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Yugoslavia, in advance of handing him over to U.N. tribunal for war crimes trial.

April

April 1
U.S. Navy surveillance plane collides with Chinese fighter over South China Sea, makes emergency landing at military airfield on China's Hainan island.

April 4
China's president demands U.S. apology for spy plane collision. Fourteen Sudanese military officials killed in plane crash.

April 5
Strikes by Hawaii public school teachers and university faculty affect 200,000 students. Dutch man convicted of manslaughter in deaths of 58 Chinese immigrants confined in truck.

April 6
Pacific Gas and Electric files for bankruptcy in offshoot of California energy crisis. Algerian man convicted of terrorism for bringing car loaded with explosives into United States.

April 7
NASA launches Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Black man is shot by white police officer in Cincinnati, sparking riots.

April 8
Tiger Woods wins Masters for fourth straight major title. Bush sends letter expressing condolences to wife of missing Chinese fighter pilot.

April 9
American Airlines' parent company acquires bankrupt Trans World Airlines, becoming America's No. 1 carrier.

April 10
Netherlands legalizes mercy killings and assisted suicide. Rap star Eminem sentenced to two years probation for carrying concealed weapon.

April 11
China agrees to free 24-member crew of U.S. spy plane. Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken declares state of emergency, imposes curfew to halt riots.

April 17
Mississippi votes to keep Confederate emblem on state flag.

April 20
Peruvian air force shoots down plane carrying U.S. missionary family.

April 22
Western Hemisphere leaders agree to start free-trade pact by December 2005.

April 24
New Zealand air force plane rescues four ailing Americans at Antarctic research station. Hawaii teachers' strike ends after 19 days. Reformer Junichiro Koizumi elected president of Japan's ruling party.

April 25
Ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada arrested for alleged corruption. Federal regulators order limited price controls on California wholesale electricity markets.

April 30
Russian spacecraft carrying first space tourist docks with international space station. Intern Chandra Levy is last seen at health club near her apartment in Washington, D.C. before vanishing.

May

May 1
Ex-Klansman convicted of murder in 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls in Birmingham, Ala.

May 4
Pope John Paul II apologizes for "sins of action and omission" by Roman Catholics against Orthodox Christians.

May 6
Capsule carrying American space tourist Dennis Tito lands in Kazakstan. Robert and Susan Levy call Washington police to report their daughter Chandra missing.

May 7
California grid operators order statewide rolling blackouts.

May 9
Stampede at soccer match in Ghana kills 126.

May 10
Boeing chooses Chicago as its new headquarters, replacing Seattle. World Wrestling Federation says it will fold upstart XFL football league.

May 11
Attorney General John Ashcroft delays Timothy McVeigh's execution by 30 days because of FBI mishandling of documents. Richard Baumhammers sentenced to death for five murders in racially motivated shooting spree in Pennsylvania.

May 12
Singer Perry Como dies at 88.

May 16
Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen indicted on charges of spying for Moscow. Fourteen-year-old Florida boy convicted of second-degree murder in shooting death of teacher. Charlie Robertson, mayor of York, Pa., says he will surrender to face murder charge arising from 1969 race riots.

May 17
Judge orders treatment, not prison, for former baseball star Darryl Strawberry after drug binge.

May 19
Utah polygamist Tom Green convicted of bigamy and criminal nonsupport.

May 21
Mitchell Report on Mideast violence calls on Palestinians to jail terrorists and Israel to freeze settlement activity.

May 23
Senate passes 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut bill.

May 24
China, United States agree to have spy plane disassembled and shipped home. Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont says he will leave Republican Party to become independent, tilting Senate control to Democrats.

May 25
Federal appeals court lifts injunction on publication of  The Wind Done Gone, retelling of Gone With The Wind from blacks' viewpoint. House, Senate negotiators reach deal on $1.35 trillion tax cut.

May 28
Rep. Joseph Moakley of Massachusetts dies of leukemia at age 74.

May 29
Disabled golfer Casey Martin wins right to use cart on PGA tour.

June

June 1
Suicide bomber attacks Tel Aviv nightclub, killing himself and 16 Israelis. King, queen and seven other members of Nepal's royal family slain by crown prince in palace shooting. "Dennis the Menace" creator Hank Ketcham dies at 81.

June 2
Ending standoff, five children leave isolated home in Idaho after negotiators promise to help family stay together.

June 3
Actor Anthony Quinn dies at 86. Alejandro Toledo defeats ex-president Alan Garcia in Peru's presidential election.

June 6
Democratic-controlled Senate convenes. Jury awards cancer-stricken smoker more than $3 billion from Philip Morris.

June 7
Federal judge refuses to stop plans for World War II Memorial on Washington Mall. Tony Blair's Labor Party wins British elections.

June 8
Knife-wielding man kills eight children at Japanese elementary school.

June 11
Timothy McVeigh executed at federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., for Oklahoma City bombing.

June 14
United States says it will stop military training exercises in Puerto Rico by May 2003.

June 19
Drug kingpin Juan Raul Garza executed in federal prison.

June 20
New York native Lori Berenson convicted of collaborating with Peruvian rebels, is sentenced to 20 years. Andrea Yates arrested in Houston after telling police she drowned her five children.

June 21
Blues musician John Lee Hooker dies at 80. Actor Carroll O'Connor, famous for TV role as Archie Bunker, dies at 76.

June 22
Striking Comair pilots ratify contract, end 3-month strike.

June 23
Pope John Paul II visits Ukraine, seeking to reconcile divisions between Catholics and Orthodox Church. Peru's fugitive ex-spy chief Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos captured in Venezuela.

June 26
Retired Army officer convicted of selling Cold War secrets to Moscow over two decades.

June 27
United Nations adopts AIDS blueprint, setting tough targets for reducing infection rates.

June 28
Oscar-winning actor Jack Lemmon dies at 76. Appeals court reverses break up of Microsoft. Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic handed over to U.N. war crimes tribunal.

June 30
Doctors implant dual-purpose pacemaker in Vice President Dick Cheney's chest.

July

July 2
Robert Tools receives world's first self-contained artificial heart in Louisville, Ky.

July 4
Russian airliner crashes in Siberia, killing 145.

July 6
Jesse Arbogast, 8, badly injured in shark attack off Florida coast.

July 10
Four firefighters killed in canyon in Cascade Mountains.

July 12
Senate votes against banning new oil, gas exploration in Gulf of Mexico. West Wing of White House evacuated because of suspicious car parked on driveway. Abner Louima, tortured in New York City police station, agrees to $8.7 million settlement.

July 14
U.S. Attorney Robert Mueller, named to head FBI, reveals he has prostate cancer.

July 17
Katharine Graham, 84, chairman of The Washington Post Co., dies after head injury.

July 20
Ira Einhorn, convicted in absentia of killing his girlfriend, is flown from France and handed over to Philadelphia police.

July 23
Indonesian national assembly ousts President Abdurahman Wahid, elects Megawati Sukarnoputri as head of state.

August

Aug. 3
U.S. Fulbright scholar John Tobin freed from Russian prison after serving half of one-year drug sentence.

Aug. 5
Van driven by drunken off-duty New York City policeman hits and kills pregnant woman, her young son and teen-age sister.

Aug. 6
Former President Clinton agrees to write memoirs for Alfred A. Knopf.

Aug. 8
Former President Reagan's daughter Maureen dies at 60. Mohammad Khatami sworn in for second term as Iran's president.

Aug. 9
President Bush approves federal funding only for existing lines of embryonic stem cells.

Aug. 13
Ford Motor Co. agrees to settle for $1 billion a lawsuit that alleges its cars and trucks stall because of defective ignition switches.

Aug. 17
Millionaire balloonist Steve Fossett's fifth attempt to fly solo around the world ends in Brazil after running into bad weather.

Aug. 20
Nikolay Soltys, 27-year-old Ukrainian immigrant in Sacramento, Calif., flees after killing wife and five other relatives.

Aug. 21
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., announces plans to retire when term expires in 2003.

Aug. 23
Frenchman using motor-driven parachute arrested after becoming snagged on Statue of Liberty. Rep. Gary Condit interviewed on ABC, denies any involvement in Chandra Levy's disappearance.

Aug. 26
Singer/actress Aaliyah dies when small plane crashes after takeoff in the Bahamas.

Aug. 30
George Rivas, ringleader of Texas prison breakout, sentenced to death in slaying of police officer. Nikolay Soltys captured after manhunt for killing six family members.

September

Sept. 1
Little League officials strip Bronx team of third-place trophy after determining that pitcher Danny Almonte is 14, not 12. Explosion and fire kill 44 at Tokyo gambling parlor.

Sept. 4
Hewlett-Packard agrees to buy Compaq for $25 billion.

Sept. 6
Justice Department says it will no longer seek breakup of Microsoft.

Sept. 9
Afghan opposition leader Ahmed Shah Massood fatally wounded in suicide attack by assassins posing as journalists.

Sept. 11
Suicide hijackers crash two airliners into World Trade Center, toppling 110-story twin towers. Another plane slams into Pentagon, and a fourth crashes outside Pittsburgh. Some 3,000 killed in all. Security increased across United States.

Sept. 12
President Bush labels attacks "acts of war," asks Congress for $20 billion to rebuild and recover.

Sept. 13
Secretary of State Colin Powell says Usama bin Laden is prime suspect in terror attacks.

Sept. 14
Americans hold services and vigils in day of remembrance for attacks victims. President Bush plans to activate up to 50,000 National Guardsmen and reservists.

Sept. 15
Voice recorder from Pennsylvania plane crash is found.

Sept. 17
Stocks reel on Wall Street's first day of trading since attacks.

Sept. 18
U.N. General Assembly postpones annual gathering of world leaders.

Sept. 19
Pentagon orders deployment of combat aircraft and support teams to Persian Gulf region.

Sept. 20
Bush names Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to head new Office of Homeland Security.

Sept. 21
Congress and Bush administration reach deal on $15 billion plan to help airline industry.

Sept. 23
Service at Yankee Stadium to pray for attack victims.

Sept. 24
President Bush freezes assets of terrorist organizations. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia ready to supply Afghan opposition with weapons.

Sept. 25
Saudi Arabia cuts relations with Afghanistan's Taliban government.

Sept. 26
White police officer acquitted of all charges in shooting death of unarmed black man that sparked riots in Cincinnati.

Sept. 27
President Bush announces plan to bolster airline security, including expanded use of federal marshals on planes. Man with assault rifle kills 14 legislators and officials in Switzerland.

Sept. 28
U.N. Security Council approves resolution demanding all countries crack down on terrorism.

Sept. 29
National Guard deploys at airports to bolster security.

Sept. 30
Former South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu dies.

October

Oct. 1
Supreme Court suspends former President Clinton from practicing before the high court. President Bush says $6 million in assets blocked and 50 bank accounts frozen as countries join effort to stop flow of money to terrorists.

Oct. 2
NATO says U.S. evidence proves Usama bin Laden role in attack.

Oct. 3
Greyhound bus crashes in Tennessee after passenger slits driver's throat.

Oct. 4
Russian airliner flying from Israel to Siberia crashes into Black Sea, killing 78. NATO approves U.S. request for military assistance in anti-terrorist campaign.

Oct. 5
Cal Ripken plays final baseball game in major leagues. U.S. Army dispatches 1,000 soldiers to Uzbekistan. Former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield dies. Tabloid photo editor Bob Stevens dies from inhaled anthrax, first U.S. death from the disease since 1976.

Oct. 6
Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's record by hitting 71st home run of the season. Bonds finishes the year with 73 homers.

Oct. 7
United States and Britain launch military strikes in Afghanistan. In videotaped statement aired after airstrikes, Usama bin Laden praises God for Sept. 11 attacks in United States.

Oct. 8
SAS airliner hits small plane and airport building in Italy; 118 die.

Oct. 9
Seventeen Virginians killed when dive boat capsizes during hurricane in Belize. Letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., are sent to Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy; the letters later test positive for anthrax.

Oct. 10
President Bush unveils list of 22 most-wanted terrorists, including Usama bin Laden and associates.

Oct. 11
Trinidad-born writer V.S. Naipaul wins Nobel Prize in literature. FBI warns of possible terrorist attacks in coming days.

Oct. 12
Polaroid files for bankruptcy protection. NBC News says one of its New York employees tests positive for skin anthrax after opening letter to Tom Brokaw. United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan win Nobel Peace Prize.

Oct. 14
Bethlehem Steel files for bankruptcy protection. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office is quarantined after anthrax-tainted letter is opened.

Oct. 15
Officials say infant son of ABC News producer in New York developed skin anthrax.

Oct. 16
Bomb strikes Red Cross compound in Afghanistan, injuring guard. Twelve Senate offices closed; hundreds of staffers get anthrax tests.

Oct. 17
New York Gov. George Pataki's Manhattan office evacuated after anthrax detected. House of Representatives announces plans to close for anthrax sweep. Israel's tourism minister assassinated.

Oct. 18
CBS News says employee in Dan Rather's office tests positive for skin anthrax. Four defendants convicted in New York of roles in 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

Oct. 19
More than 350 migrants drown when boat sinks off Indonesia.

Oct. 20
Anthrax found in U.S. House of Representatives office building. Letter to New York Post tests positive for anthrax.

Oct. 21
Washington postal worker dies of inhalation anthrax; officials begin testing thousands of postal employees.

Oct. 22
Sinn Fein leaders urge allies in Irish Republican Army to begin disarming. A second Washington postal worker dies of anthrax.

Oct. 23
Irish Republican Army says it has begun to disarm.

Oct. 24
House passes $100 billion economic stimulus package.

Oct. 26
Afghan opposition figure Abdul Haq killed in Afghanistan. American Red Cross President Bernadine Healy announces resignation. Supreme Court building shuts down for anthrax testing.

Oct. 30
Jacques Nasser removed as CEO of Ford Motor Co.

Oct. 31
New York hospital worker dies from inhalation anthrax. Former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive Sara Jane Olson pleads guilty to attempted murder of police officers. Microsoft, Justice Department reach tentative deal to settle antitrust case.

November

Nov. 2
U.S. unemployment rate soars to 5.4 percent.

Nov. 4
The West Wing wins Emmy for best drama. Arizona Diamondbacks win World Series, beating New York Yankees in ninth inning of Game 7.

Nov. 5
Authorities say Hurricane Michelle kills at least five people in Cuba. Enrique Bolanos defeats former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua's presidential election.

Nov. 6
Germany offers troops for war on terrorism.

Nov. 8
Fierce fighting in Afghanistan around Mazar-e-Sharif between Taliban and northern alliance.

Nov. 9
Mazar-e-Sharif falls to northern alliance.

Nov. 10
Northern alliance moves south toward Kabul. President Bush announces $1 billion in aid to Pakistan plus lifting sanctions. World Trade Organization approves China as a member. Storm hits Algeria; more than 440 killed.

Nov. 12
Afghan opposition forces break through Taliban lines outside Kabul. American Airlines Flight 587 crashes near New York's Kennedy airport, killing 265 people.

Nov. 13
Taliban forces abandon Kabul. Bishop Wilton Gregory elected first black president of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Nov. 14
Eight foreign aid workers, including two Americans, accused of preaching Christianity in Afghanistan are freed from Taliban custody.

Nov. 15
Backed by U.S. bombardment, northern alliance lays siege to northern city of Kunduz. Presidents Bush and Putin end U.S.-Russia summit with no deal on missile defense.

Nov. 16
Usama bin Laden's top adviser, Mohammed Atef, reported killed by U.S. airstrike. Congress passes aviation security bill; airport screeners will be federal employees.

Nov. 19
United States accuses Iraq, North Korea of developing germ warfare programs. Connecticut Supreme Court clears way for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel to be tried for 1975 beating death of neighbor when both were teen-agers.

Nov. 20
Federal judge temporarily blocks U.S. move to dismantle Oregon assisted suicide law.

Nov. 21
Attorney F. Lee Bailey disbarred in Florida for mishandling stock. Elderly anthrax victim in Connecticut dies.

Nov. 22
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, dies at 83.

Nov. 23
War crimes tribunal confirms genocide indictment against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Nov. 24
Swiss airliner crashes near Zurich, killing 24.

Nov. 25
Scientists in Massachusetts claim to have cloned first early human embryo. Prisoner uprising in Afghanistan; scores of Usama bin Laden's loyalists and a CIA agent killed.

Nov. 26
Bureau of Economic Research declares U.S. recession began in March.

Nov. 27
Afghan factions open power-sharing talks in Germany. Four international journalists killed in Afghanistan.

Nov. 28
Stock in energy-trader Enron plunges after Dynegy backs out of purchase deal.

Nov. 29
Former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison dies at 58.

Nov. 30
Robert Tools dies, 151 days after becoming first recipient of fully self-contained artificial heart. Gary Leon Ridgway arrested for Green River serial killings in Washington state.

December

Dec. 1
Daughter born to Japan's crown prince and princess.

Dec. 1-2
Three suicide bombs kill 25 Israelis.

Dec. 2
Enron files for bankruptcy protection.

Dec. 2-3
Israeli warplanes strike Palestinian security targets and Yasser Arafat's offices in response to suicide bombings.

Dec. 5
Afghan leaders sign pact to create interim government. Escaped convict suspected of mailing anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics captured near Cincinnati. Three Green Berets and six Afghan allies killed by errant U.S. bomb in Afghanistan.

Dec. 6
House of Representatives, by one-vote margin, gives President Bush more power to negotiate global trade deals.

Dec. 7
Taliban forces abandon last bastion in Kandahar. 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor commemorated. U.S. unemployment rate jumps to 5.7 percent, highest in six years.

Dec. 8
U.S. Capitol reopened to tourists after two-month security shutdown.

Dec. 9
Authorities confirm outbreak of Ebola in Gabon.

Dec. 10
Federal authorities charge California bus company with illegally transporting thousands of undocumented aliens from staging areas near U.S.-Mexico border.

Dec. 11
Federal grand jury charges Moroccan-born Frenchman with with conspiring with Usama bin Laden in the suicide hijackings, the first indictment directly related to Sept. 11 attacks.

Dec. 12
House Majority Leader Dick Armey announces retirement plans. Chairman of Jewish Defense League accused of plotting to bomb Los Angeles mosque and office of Arab-American congressman.

Dec. 13
Israel severs contact with Yasser Arafat after Palestinian militants kill 10 Israelis in bus ambush. U.S. informs Russia of withdrawal from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. U.S. releases videotape to show Usama bin Laden's advance knowledge of terror attacks. Five suicide attackers storm India's Parliament, killing seven.

Dec. 14
Newly hired George O'Leary resigns as Notre Dame football coach, admits lying on his resume.

Dec. 15
Six Palestinians killed, more than 50 hurt as Israeli troops search for militants in Gaza Strip.

Dec. 16
Afghan militia leaders claim control of last mountain bastion of Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda fighters.

Dec. 17
Gunmen storm Haiti's National Palace, killing four.

Dec. 18
Landmark education bill, requiring annual math and reading tests for millions of students, wins final passage in Congress. Judge throw outs Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence, orders new sentencing hearing for former Black Panther.

Dec. 19
Argentina's president decrees state of siege as economic crisis triggers violence. Shootout on Afghan-Pakistan border as Al Qaeda prisoners kill six guards, attempt escape.

Dec. 20
Microsoft admits new version of Windows is vulnerable to hacking. U.N. Security Council authorizes multinational force for Afghanistan.

Dec. 21
Islamic militant group Hamas suspends suicide bombings, mortar attacks in Israel. Agreement reached for state takeover of troubled Philadelphia schools.

Dec. 22
Man on Paris-Miami flight identified as Richard Reid allegedly tries to ignite explosive in his sneaker; flight attendants, passengers subdue him. Body of missing Harvard biologist found in Mississippi River.

Dec. 23
Israel bars Yasser Arafat from annual Christmas Eve visit to Bethlehem, traditional birthplace of Jesus. Argentina's interim president, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, says he'll suspend payment of foreign debt, threatening history's biggest sovereign default. Time magazine names New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani person of the year.

Dec. 24
President Bush creates lines of succession at key federal agencies in case Cabinet officers die or are incapacitated.

Dec. 25
New research suggests a common virus may increase risk of developing multiple sclerosis, bolstering evidence linking nerve disorder with Epstein-Barr germ.

Dec. 26
U.S. intelligence says it hasn't detected Usama bin Laden for about two weeks while Al-Jazeera TV airs bin Laden tape, seemingly recorded first half of December, condemning United States. Hundreds of refugees try to flee camp in France for Britain on foot, forcing temporary closure of Channel Tunnel to trains.

Dec. 27
India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism, bans Pakistan's national airline from Indian airspace, expels some embassy staff; Pakistan responds by doing the same. Buffalo, N.Y., buried in more than 2 feet of snow.